


If I die young

by andthestorystarts



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Well technically it's major character death BUT he's going to come right back, implied JackJamie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-25
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-26 20:19:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/654036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andthestorystarts/pseuds/andthestorystarts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The little scattered lines of dark on the ice weren’t twigs, wasn’t dirt, wasn’t the paths that their skates had cleared the snow from the ice.<br/>They were cracks. </p>
<p>He realized this a bare moment before Jamie’s foot came down- too hard, the front of the skate hitting the surface, the pressure splitting the ice further, and there was a loud crack…<br/>and Jamie was gone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Where history repeats itself.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so basically the sum of this is that I'm a bitch.  
> Also the title came from the video(and song) here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j25A9HhCFNg

Yes, Jack had told Jamie about how he became a guardian, story of the ice included.  
Yes, Jamie had thought about that as he led Sophie out onto the ice. The thought was there, ticking away at the back of his mind, and he could almost hear Jack’s voice, saying, ‘That’s really not a good idea, kiddo.’  
No, it didn’t stop him from doing so.  
  
He was stubborn by nature, and that hadn’t suddenly decided to stop now.  
His mother had raised him and had reminded him, all of his eighteen years, to think about things before he did them.  
And he had.  
Even this time round.  
He had thought that the ice looked thick enough to be safe, and had tested it, even.  
  
Even people who think things through can be wrong, however.  
  
\---  
  
Looking back, it was a stupid, idiotic idea.  
But sometimes stubbornness pushes things like common sense out of your head.  
  
Looking back, he shouldn’t have done it.  
It was bad idea, and was doomed to disaster from the start.  
  
Looking back, he considered it to be one of the best decisions he’d ever made.  
  
\---  
  
Jack hadn’t seen Jamie for a long while. He had been needed in other parts of the world, and then unfortunately the warmer seasons had settled down in Jamie’s town. But it had finally shifted into being cold enough so that he could go back there.  
  
By the number of teens that were milling about down below him, school was out, so it would have been useless to look there.  
Jack had checked Jamie’s house and the park before he thought of the pond.  
  
\---  
  
‘Come on, step over here- Ah, slowly! Slooowly…’ Jamie drew the word out, trying to not outwardly show the panic that was gnawing at him. This was stupid of him, stupid! He never should have brought Sophie out here. Shouldn’t have gone out on the ice.  
He swallowed, trying to look calm, while his arm stretched out, trying to grab Sophie, to get her away from the cracks that were rapidly multiplying and spreading under her feet.  
  
\---  
  
Ah, there he was. Looked as if he had Sophie with him too. Jack headed towards them, and watched and Jamie reached for Sophie’s hands, and half dragged her away from the spot she was in, sliding himself towards the same spot as he did so. Her away, him closer.  
Jack frowned a little. He was too far away to see details properly, including their expressions.  
Maybe they were playing a game?  
  
‘Jamie!’ He called out, now within earshot, almost able to see things properly.  
He saw Jamie turn in his direction, and something clicked in Jack’s mind.  
  
The little scattered lines of dark on the ice weren’t twigs, wasn’t dirt, wasn’t the paths that their skates had cleared the snow from the ice.  
They were cracks.  
  
He realized this a bare moment before Jamie’s foot came down- too hard, the front of the skate hitting the surface, the pressure splitting the ice further, and there was a loud _crack…_  
and Jamie was gone.  
  
Jack’s heart seemed to try to stop, then leapt up to choke him.  
He sped up, and within seconds was skidding to a halt on the ice, next to the jagged broken attempt at a circle, sparing a glance to Sophie to make sure that she was alright, and without thinking about it, passed her his staff, and dived into the water.  
  
It was dark.  
So very dark underneath the ice.  
It reminded him of when he first became Jack Frost.  
A little voice at the back of his head reminded him that he also drowned in this exact pond.  
He hoped that Jamie wouldn’t copy that piece of history, though the same voice scratched at the back of his mind, saying, _too late, too late, it’s too late, Jack. He drowned, Jack.  
Didn’t he say once that he wanted to grow up to be like you? _  
  
_Looks like he got that wish._  
  
Jack pushed the voice away, trying to ignore the worry churning in his gut.   
He felt around in the inky black, trying to find Jamie, panic rising when he couldn’t.  
  
He didn’t know how long it took, but it was when his lungs were starting to scream, to burn with the want of oxygen, when his hands hit something soft. It had to be Jamie.  
He grabbed him, and started towing him up to the surface- and for one disorienting moment he didn’t know which way was up.    
  
His head broke the surface and he took in a gulp of air- trying not to think of how long it had been since Jamie would have taken one, and clambered up onto the ice, dragging Jamie with him.  
The first thing he saw was Sophie, clutching onto the staff as if it was her last link to reality.  
He tore his eyes away from her, knowing that she, at the very least, was physically fine.  
His priority right then was Jamie.  
  
He turned him on his back, and it was only then that Jack realized how little he knew of things like this. About all he knew how to do was how to wrap a bandage around a wound.  
He swallowed, and opened up the front of Jamie’s clothing. He pressed two fingers against Jamie’s neck, feeling for a pulse.  
He shifted down to his wrist, looking more frantic this time.  
  
He checked  
double checked  
and even got Sophie to check- just in case.  
Zip. Ziltch. Nada on each.  
Jamie didn’t have a pulse.  
  
Jack refused to think the word that Sophie eventually voiced.  
  
‘He’s dead, isn’t he.’  
  
Her voice was quavering slightly, but still fairly sure. Just by that tone, Jack could tell that she didn’t want it to be true, didn’t want to be right, wanted to be corrected, told she was wrong, but also knew the answer before she had opened her mouth.  
  
She sounded like she was trying to be brave.  
  
Jack had put his head in his hands a while back, and hadn’t moved since.  
Now, he stirred a little.  
  
‘Three hundred years,’ he muttered.  
‘Three hundred years and I couldn’t save Jamie from exactly what happened to me!’  
His voice had rose and rose during the sentence, and cracked at Jamie’s name.  
  
He rubbed a hand across his eyes.  
‘Jamie you complete dolt. Why did you come out here? You know this pond is a goddamn death trap. I’m living proof of that.’ –Which was a very odd sentence, but was true nonetheless.  
  
His tone turned angry, and now he was pacing the ice, his staff in his hands, gesturing wildly with it.  
‘And if I hadn’t called out for him, he wouldn’t have turned, and wouldn’t have gone through the ice.’  
  
Sophie hadn’t been answered yet, and she swallowed and stepped forward, into the path Jack was pacing.  
‘It’s not your fault, Jack. T-the ice was cracked. If he had moved anywhere he was likely to fall in.’

Her voice began to waver again, and she started to tear up. ‘He- he was only on that patch because I was there. _My_ weight was too much for the ice, let alone his. A-and he still moved me, got me away from there.’  
  
Jack had stopped pacing, and was looking at Jamie, lying there on the ice.  
He went over and crouched down near his head, brushing some of his hair out of his face.  
His voice was low and quiet when he spoke. ‘You did exactly what I did, you stupid idiot. Same pond too.’  
  
Jack blinked at Jamie’s hair, and rubbed a clump of it between his fingers.  
‘Hey, Soph?’ He called out carefully, voice even, to where she was behind him, ‘Was his hair always this colour?’  
  
Sophie came over and peered at Jamie’s hair, then frowned.  
‘No, it’s never looked like before, not even when he fell into that mud puddle.’  
That got a tiny quirk of a smile from Jack.  
Jamie’s hair was _richer_ looking, and dark, darker than Jack had ever seen it. Just a few shades darker, but it counted.  
Jamie’s hair now held the same sort of colouring as good quality chocolate.  
   
He’d seen it wet before, and it had never been this colour. That’s why he had to ask Sophie. She’d been around Jamie her whole life.  
  
The confirmation that something was different caused Jack to have to swallow around a lump in his throat.  
  
About the only thing he could think of that could change hair colour like this under the circumstances, was-  
He looked up at the sky, then let out a breath.  
  
The moon hung there, round and full, and silent as always.  
  
Jack was torn between yelling at it or pleading with it.  
  
For what, he wasn’t entirely sure.


	2. Make a wish upon the moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Make a wish upon the moon and maybe it shall grant it.

Jack knew what it was like to drown.  
To hear the crack of ice, then the sensation of falling that brought your heart up to your throat.   
To feel the shock of the frigid water, to have the air punched out of your lungs, and be unable to take another breath, only able to swallow water, allowing the cold inside you too.   
  
He knew the burst of relief to know that his sister was okay, wasn’t going to drop under the ice, only to do so himself.  
  
He didn’t know what it was like to know that there was someone coming who had a chance of saving him.  
Which was why, when he had been sitting on the ice, before Sophie had finally spoken, he had been quiet, blaming himself.   
  
He had known that Jamie was a lot like him. Too much like him, apparently.  
He had known that he would have reacted in exactly the same way.  
He had known that, and yet-   
And yet he hadn’t been able to save him.  
  
-  
  
Jack didn’t know whether to shout, curse, or beg at the moon.  
  
He wasn’t sure if Sophie knew.   
He wasn’t even sure if he was correct, or if it was just a freak occurrence.  
But the moon, and the circumstances- Jack was fairly sure he was right.   
  
He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.   
  
-  
  
Both he and Sophie had been sitting in the snow for a while now, having half-carried and half dragged Jamie off the ice and onto actual ground. Sophie didn’t want to try to take him back to the house, and Jack silently agreed, since how exactly would they-well, Sophie really- explain something like this?  
  
And they didn’t want to leave him.  
Especially if Jack’s guess was right.   
  
The problem was, he didn’t know how long it would take, if it happened at all.   
He didn’t know how long it took till Manny revived him, after all.  
It could take years, for all he knew.

On the other hand, it could be any second.  
  
So they waited.  
  
-  
  
In the end, it was a bit anticlimactic, to be honest.  
  
Jack didn’t know what he had expected, hovering in the air maybe, like he had.   
But no, that’s not what happened.  
  
It was just starting to get dark, and Sophie had made muttering noises about going back, and having to think of something plausible to tell her mother that didn’t include the word _dead._ She had cried a few times in the time they had waited, and Jack didn’t know what to do with any crying person, so had just patted her on the back.   
It seemed to help.  
  
She was just getting up to leave, had picked up her ice skates from the ground, giving a glare at them as she did so- when Jamie simply sat up.  
  
No big gasp of air nor the hovering, no ball of light or anything.  
He just sat up- admittedly a little stiffly, and looked at them.  
  
There was about five beats of silence where Jack and Sophie simply looked at him, and his gaze shifted from one person to the other.  
Then he broke the silence.   
‘Uhh..’  
And they both pounced.  
  
-  
  
Sophie could still see Jamie, which was a relief. That was one of the things that Jack had worried about.  
It would have made the situation worse if Jamie had woken up and Sophie couldn’t see him.  
But she could.  
  
Which led to Jack wondering what type of guardian Jamie was. He had died under basically the exact same circumstances as Jack had, so did that mean that he had the same sort of abilities?  
They’d have to test that out.  
For now, both Jack and Sophie weren’t going to let go of Jamie  
.  
Which, understandably, made Jamie a bit uncomfortable.  
‘Uh, guys? Could you give me a bit of breathing space, here?’ He asked, squirming.  
‘No.’ Came the stubborn- though slightly muffled- reply from both of them.  
Sophie had momentarily reverted back to being a small child and had almost climbed into Jamie’s lap and latched her arms around his torso.  
Since she had taken that spot, and it would have been uncomfortable from the sides, Jack had done much the same from the back, his forehead resting on the back of Jamie’s shoulder.

  
They were both a lot like limpets.   
  
-  
  
Eventually, it became dark enough that Jamie’s big brother instinct kicked in again.   
‘Sophie. Soph, you gotta go back home now. Mum’ll be worried.’  
Sophie gave a little whined mumble that translated into something like, ‘What will I tell her?’  
Jamie took a second to think about it. ‘Just say that I have a friend who needs a bit of help right now and I’m staying over at his place.’  
Sophie gave him another squeeze, then reluctantly got up and left, continually looking back until she was out of sight.   
  
‘You might not see her again, you know,’ Jack mumbled into Jamie’s back.   
‘I will. I’ll make sure of that.’   
Jack gave a little hum as a response.   
  
He hadn’t moved from where he was, in a half hug half lean against Jamie. Hadn’t wanted to.  
  
He had noticed when he got over the oh-thank-god-he’s-okay that Jamie was warm.   
_Warm._   
Apparently he wasn’t to Sophie, since she had started shivering at one point.  
Which just solidified the idea in Jack’s mind, not that there was much room to doubt at this point.  
Jamie, in some way, shape or form, was now a guardian.   
He didn’t know what kind he was, but going by the fact that Sophie found him cold and he himself found him warm, that he was something like Jack.   
  
Though he felt like an absolute prick for even thinking it, Jack found the idea rather appealing.  
He had worried about Jamie becoming older, and stop believing in him, like the other kids from that night had.   
It had tormented him sometimes, when he was trying to keep his mind away from it.   
Though he felt like an utter git, he’d have to own up to the thought sometime anyway.  
  
But on the other hand, the reason why he’d wanted to swear and yell...   
His experience of being a guardian was lonely.  
A little streak of fun here and there, but essentially it dissolved back into loneliness, when people walked through him, when no-one could talk to him, when he couldn’t do something as simple as touch anyone, when no-one believed.   
He hadn’t wanted to inflict that fate upon Jamie, too.   
  
‘I’m sorry,’ He murmured, his grip on Jamie growing a bit tighter.  
‘For what?’   
Jack felt Jamie’s hand covering his.  
Warm.  
‘For not being able to save you.’  
There was a short pause before Jamie let out a breath. ‘You can’t save everyone, Jack.’  
‘But I couldn’t save _you._ ’  
He heard a sigh from Jamie.  
‘Jack.’ Jamie was pulling away, and turning to face him, still holding one of his hands. ‘I’m fine. Evidently, more than fine. You can see that.’   
Jack made a gesture with his free hand, looking pained. ‘I don’t even know if people are going to be able to see you. You had your whole life ahead of you, and I couldn’t save that for you.’   
  
Jamie had a very small smile on his face when he replied, ‘Jack. Though, yes, I don’t have that life anymore, I now have this one. And if it means that people can’t see me, that I can’t get a job or go to school or even cant be seen by my mother, then I’ll still take it if it means that I can spend it with you.’   
  
Jack was properly looking at him now, with a hint of a smile flitting around the corners of his mouth.  
  
Jamie stood, dragging Jack up with him.   
  
‘Come on, lets see what I can do.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I don't really know what I'm doing any more. 
> 
> Hope it lived up to your expectations, lovelies.


End file.
